Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Patronage Politics Divides Us: A Study of Poverty, Patronage and Inequality in South Africa
    Unavailable
    Patronage Politics Divides Us: A Study of Poverty, Patronage and Inequality in South Africa
    Unavailable
    Patronage Politics Divides Us: A Study of Poverty, Patronage and Inequality in South Africa
    Ebook193 pages2 hours

    Patronage Politics Divides Us: A Study of Poverty, Patronage and Inequality in South Africa

    By Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA)

    2/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Patronage Politics Divides Us is the culmination of a research project that forms part of MISTRA's first suite of eight priority research projects. The research explores the relationship between patronage, poverty, and inequality with a particular focus on its impact on the conduct of local politics. The overall aim of the study was to explore the possibility of constituting public institutions in a manner that enables them to become legitimate arbiters between the various interests, rather than as instruments that are captured by contending interest groups for their own accumulation. Most importantly, this study was necessitated by the realization that postapartheid patronage politics has not received sufficient scholarly attention. The report is a profile of socioeconomic life in South Africa's various communities as experienced not only by locals but also by foreign-born residents. The findings provide a window on relationships between councilors, business interests, and local party organizations.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherReal African Publishers
    Release dateFeb 1, 2014
    ISBN9781920655822
    Unavailable
    Patronage Politics Divides Us: A Study of Poverty, Patronage and Inequality in South Africa

    Related to Patronage Politics Divides Us

    Related ebooks

    Social Science For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Xenophobia A Serious Problem

      Nov 15, 2020

      Xenophobia A Serious Problem
      3 min read

    • Article

      Xenophobia A Serious Problem

      Nov 15, 2020

      Xenophobia A Serious Problem
      3 min read

    • Article

      Defibrillating Democracy

      Feb 15, 2021

      Defibrillating Democracy
      6 min read

    • Article

      Time For Politicians To Govern As Our Activists Did

      Oct 11, 2023

      THE demise of our leaders in 2023 reminds us of the great purpose of servant leadership. The recent deaths of Professor Hoosen Coovadia, an anti-apartheid stalwart, prolific scientist and activist of health equity; Dr Frene Noshir Ginwala and Aziz G

      3 min read

    • Article

      Social Science Degrees Are Undervalued

      Jul 5, 2023

      FOR generations, Indian South Africans have placed greater importance on graduates who complete degrees in medicine, law, accounting and the so-called pure sciences than the youth who complete social sciences qualifications. I have often wondered if

      3 min read

    • Article

      New Guidelines To Combat Misinformation

      Apr 14, 2024

      Political parties are increasingly turning to social media campaigns to drive their messages in the run-up to next month’s general elections. While the online space can inform about policies and manifestos, there is also a growing risk of disinformat

      2 min read

    • Article

      Tips For Scientists To Work Effectively With Communities

      Apr 11, 2023

      How can scientists best serve communities with their expertise? Science Network guest blogger Nancy Holt provides her experience and tips.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Opinion Polling

      Mar 30, 2024

      Recently, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) issued a statement in which it addressed the use of opinion polls and cautioned that some of them left “a lot to be desired when it comes to their depth, audience reach, and what exactly the

      3 min read

    • Article

      Opinion Polling

      Mar 30, 2024

      Recently, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) issued a statement in which it addressed the use of opinion polls and cautioned that some of them left “a lot to be desired when it comes to their depth, audience reach, and what exactly the

      3 min read

    • Article

      Let Us All Fight GBV Scourge

      Dec 6, 2020

      EXPERTS concur that South Africa has excellent anti-gender-based violence laws and a national plan and strategies to prevent, and respond to violence against women and children. These saw the emergence of a groundswell of men’s grassroots movements t

      2 min read

    • Article

      The March Still Resonates

      Aug 2, 2021

      SIXTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, ON August 9, 20,000 women and girls of all races, classes, color and creed marched, singing and chanting, some with babies on their backs, and climbed up the steps of the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of the apartheid go

      5 min read

    • Article

      PR Guru Is Black Excellence Personified

      May 9, 2021

      HE IS chief executive officer of Ditshego Media, which he founded in 2011. Three years later, he was listed as one of Forbes Magazine's top 30 African Entrepreneurs under the age of 30. The accolades have never stopped coming. Last year he was appoin

      2 min read

    • Article

      Science for a Stronger Democracy: 3 Ways to Boost Communication Between Scientists, Voters, and Decisionmakers

      Nov 2, 2023

      A leader of March for Science NYC shares techniques for using science communication to strengthen our democracy.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Importance Of Keeping Busy

      Jun 21, 2022

      Importance Of Keeping Busy
      4 min read

    • Article

      When Deviance, Criminality Become The New Normal

      Mar 3, 2021

      IN RECENT years, there has been a prevalence of media reports which focus on a wide criminal activities with particular attention on white collar crimes. These journalistic reports are rich in factual evidence, opinion and perception that allow the r

      3 min read

    • Article

      Data Doesn’t Speak, People Do!

      Mar 3, 2022

      Science Network guest blogger Professor Barbara Allen describes how scientists can better engage with communities for the best impact from their work.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Taking Action

      Nov 26, 2019

      Taking Action
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Coalition of Everyone

      Jun 3, 2020

      The Coalition of Everyone
      3 min read

    • Article

      Through the Gender Lens

      Jun 2, 2023

      Through the Gender Lens
      2 min read

    • Article

      An Interview With Media Scholar Rose Luqiu About WeChat And Techno-nationalism

      Nov 29, 2021

      "A major factor is censorship or 'coerced loyalty.' As other communication tools like Facebook and Twitter are unavailable in China. WeChat has a very special [monopoly] status in China."

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Virtuous And Vicious Cycles Of Development

      Jun 17, 2022

      Making sense of developments in South Africa can be a very complicated and frustrating enterprise. Just in the past month, we have witnessed a wide range of mostly unrelated developments that defy a single theory on the country. They range from natur

      3 min read

    Reviews for Patronage Politics Divides Us

    2/5

    2 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      This is a well-meaning – even earnest – book. The authors show a deep-felt concern for the ways in which poor South Africans are caught up in the toils of “political patronage”. Most of the book is well-written and easy to read. It comes with a helpful list of recommendations.But the book does not “work”. Starting with a theoretical framework guided by US writings on patronage politics, it fails to convince one that this is a useful model for interpreting South Africa. In SA, patronage fails people because it does not provide the alternative route to services, houses and jobs that marks the particular systems of patronage in the US. The point in SA is that the patronage characteristics of local government do not in fact provide for the needs of the community. People follow this or that faction of local politicians because of hopes and promises, not because anyone commands a functioning patronage machine like Tammany Hall. Local politicians provide public work programme jobs, Community Development Worker posts and maybe housing list places for a tiny proportion of those to whom they make promises. The problem for the people is not patronage politics, but the fact that supporting the patron does not lead to the promised results.The heart of the book is stories from five poor areas – Diepsloot in Joburg, Overstrand (Hermanus), Tsolo and Qumbu in the Eastern Cape and two municipalities in Free State. These touch on well-known problems: xenophobia, fishing rights, nepotism (including jobs for friends), the critical role of state grants, the manipulation of ‘lists’ and so on. Interviews and focus groups were used to gather data and little is new or surprising – although I did not know that SASSA issued free paraffin along with the social grants. The word “patronage” is sprinkled through the pages. But there is no rounding conclusion to convince one that patronage politics is what drives local politics. The authors say that “political patronage happens when state resources are used to reward individuals in return for their political support.” This is not actually demonstrated by the case studies. People respond to the promises and blandishments of politicians by supporting them with votes, but very few get the expected rewards from state resources. This is why communities are so angry. The problem is not “patronage politics” but that is does not work for people. It only works for politicians and even for them it often works only temporarily – particularly at the local level. New factions emerge supporting alternative promisers, who also cannot “deliver”. Turmoil is the result. Citing a US academic, Frank Sorauf, the authors make use of a definition of patronage as “an incentive system – ‘a political currency with which to purchase political activities and political responses’”. Sorauf’s “political currency” in South Africa is counterfeit!It may be wrong to suspect that the theoretical underpinnings for the book, such as they are, come from a Google Scholar search for articles with “patronage” in their title. But it is remarkable that the authors by-pass alternative African scholarly literature on patrimonialism and neo-patrimonialism and that they devote many pages to worthy US writings of Sorauf, Scott Bearfield and others. This is a diversion which does not solve any questions raised in the fieldwork reports.The authors point out repeatedly that conflict in local government revolves around struggles for positions in party structures. Perhaps explicit mention should have been made of an unusual feature of South African democracy – the recognition of local government in the Constitution and the direct and equitable funding of local government through the Division of Revenue Act. These provisions, enacted to decentralize power to the people and to enable democracy, have set up local government as a terrain of struggle over resources. In other countries in Africa, local authorities have power (and often financing) that is derived from national or state governments, and which can be granted or denied at the whim of national politicians. This is not the case in SA, where local authorities are recognized as a co-equal sphere of government. Local authorities have original powers based in the Constitution and resources guaranteed from the national fiscus. There really is something to fight about. Perhaps the most insightful section of the book is the short analysis note on Political office as a source of employment – power struggles. “The political rivalry amongst the local elites is spurred by spoils of office.” This is followed by a list of recommendations, including one to “Eliminate factionalism within parties …factional patronage politics has the tendency to attract crooks who by mimicking and exaggerating factional conspiracies, entrench themselves in parties and aggravate poor service delivery.”The other recommendations, such as fighting corruption, selecting candidates for local government based on democracy and merit, enforcing accountability and ensuring that people know their rights are all spot on.Political will is the missing element – and where will that come from?